Midtown vendors open for season

The Midtown Farmers Market, a staple of the summer and fall seasons since 1977, began its 2014 run beneath cloudy skies but a steady stream of customers.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/JOHN JAQUES
Holly Trujillo takes a smell of fresh basil for sale at Musso Farms stand on the first day of this year's Midtown Farmer's Market.

About 30 vendors — mostly locals selling fresh vegetables and fruit — staked their claim in the large parking area southwest of the Midtown Shopping Center.

While produce made up most of the market, vendors also were selling fresh bread and pastries, tamales, flowers, art pieces and clothing items.

For the first time this year, Electronic Benefit Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, can be used for purchase of food and produce items.

Pete Frankmore, operating as Joe Tomato, has been taking part in the Midtown Farmers Market for 30 years. He said the freshness of the produce, as well as the fact that most of the wares are grown locally, continually draws customers.

Pointing to a hearty collection of onions, red beets, squashes, Italian pole beans, green beans and sweet corn, Frankmore said, “Most of this was picked yesterday and it’s here today. When you go to a grocery store, you don’t know when it was picked nor where it came from. Here you know.”

Frankmore said he typically purchases fruit such as cherries and apricots from Colorado growers. This year, though, a late May freeze put a damper on the state’s cherry crop, requiring import from Washington state.

“When possible I get all my fruit within the state, particularly the Western Slope,” Frankmore said. “Obviously, there are some items we don’t grow here so we bring those in, like potatoes from Center.”

Tanya Nance, operating as the Legend Brand, said she began working the Midtown Farmers Market as a young girl, when the business was known as Siefford’s. Now, the staff includes the fourth generation of Siefford family members.

“I’d say that 70 percent of all the vegetables sold here are grown locally,” Nance explained. “When available, we buy all the fruit from Colorado growers, and if not, then we use growers in Washington and California.”

Allen Bates, manning the Styria Bakery stand, said he drives down from Denver every Tuesday and Friday to sell artisan breads and pastries. Business, he said, always has been good enough to warrant the twice-weekly, 230-mile round trip.

In the coming weeks, more produce items will be added as crops are harvested, one of the most anticipated being the Rocky Ford cantaloupes.

The market will run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday through October.